UNSPSC 50405603: Cheese peppers

The variety of peppers known as cheese peppers

UNSPSC 50405603 Cheese peppers (Commodity) shows modest recent activity dominated by institutional food service procurement, particularly by state departments of criminal justice and health-and-human-services agencies, along with school districts and specialty food operators. State and local governments buy cheese peppers as components of meal service in correctional facilities, state-supported living centers, mental health centers, schools, and senior services programs—typically as part of larger fresh-produce or consumables awards rather than standalone pepper procurements. The Illinois Department of Corrections solicited green bell peppers (35–45 lbs per case) for bi-weekly delivery to Joliet Treatment Center under a small-business set-aside (IFB 27426DOCJOLIEB53849, due September 3, 2026); the Texas Department of Criminal Justice has posted multiple fresh-fruit-and-vegetable solicitations covering institutional food warehouses at Palestine, Snyder, and Wynne with response dates in October 2026; and Texas Health and Human Services Commission has issued multiple IFBs for consumables and food-service groceries at state-supported living centers in Lufkin and Mexia that bundle peppers with other fresh and frozen produce. School districts in Wisconsin, Georgia, and Texas are also soliciting fresh produce including peppers for child nutrition programs under the USDA Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program and National School Lunch Program.

Activity concentrates in Texas, Illinois, and Georgia, reflecting the distribution of state correctional and health-services facilities in those jurisdictions. Recent opportunities span IFBs, RFPs, and small-purchase procurements issued by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, Texas Health and Human Services Commission, Illinois Department of Mental Health, Illinois Department of Corrections, and multiple school nutrition programs (Bartow County Schools in Georgia, Dougherty County Schools in Georgia, Bryan County Schools in Georgia, Early County Schools in Georgia, Madison Metropolitan School District in Wisconsin). Most solicitations post response windows of one to three weeks and require F.O.B. Destination pricing, compliance with prevailing-wage or child-nutrition regulations, product traceability documentation, and commercial liability insurance. Peppers appear incidentally within broader fresh-produce line items—the code itself generates no standalone pepper-specific awards in the recent record, signaling that pursuit is most viable through vendors positioned to supply full produce mixes to institutional food service operations rather than single-item pepper specialists.